Blueberry Pancake in a Jar

Have you ever felt like you were a ghost, traveling alongside the person you’d call a “self”- observing, guiding, but never influencing? It’s a strange detachment, like a fissure of thought and form. But whenever I feel this way, I notice I produce art that I’m much more satisfied with. Detachment, in my mind, means you’re getting past the barriers you put up between yourself and all the other particles strewn about the universe. It’s a welcome feeling.

And besides, seeing everything from an apart perspective means I can more easily make logical, visible connections. It makes it easier to solve basic problems such as the ever-present:

WHAT DO I EAT FOR BREAKFAST I’M SOO HUNGRY NOM
…

Maybe it’s just me, but when I roll out of that bed in the morning I am ferociously hungry. I mean scarf-down-the-nearest-donut-and-10-others kind of hungry. And so it seems only natural that I’d be on the hunt for a breakfast that requires minimal preparation, or utensils, or cookware, or time.

Combine flour, baking powder, and sugar in a small bowl, and whisk until combined. Stir in melted margarine and milk until batter forms.

Place blueberries on bottoms of jars, then fill about halfway with batter. Pancake will rise while cooking. Microwave for about 1 minute for small jars, or 90 seconds for larger jars. Let cool before topping with more margarine, blueberries, and syrup. Makes 4 small jar cakes or 2 large ones.

I enjoyed these morning jar-fulls of cake magic with some slow French dream pop. If you haven’t heard of AIR (you’ve heard them if you’ve seen The Virgin Suicides) then you really should go take a listen. They’re one of those bands I get hooked on for about 2 weeks each year, and my obsession is currently in full swing. I’d recommend this song, or this one, or this one!

Air rock and so does your recipe. Beautiful, creative and quick. Big winner all round! (one of my other fave soundtracks also from Sophia Coppola’s-Marie Antoinette) features fantastic music, from Air and many others alike! ;)

so having just made these (and by “just” i mean, “i’m just enjoying them whilst typing this reply”) in a non-vegan fashion (regular milk and butter), in half-pint jars, i have the following to report:

– it is definitely better to underfill the jars than to overfill. they don’t like setting otherwise, and you find yourself nuking them about three times as long, which leads to overcooking, which is bad because…

– they benefit from a little undercooking. it makes them more pancake-y and less biscuit-y. which is still delicious, and an intriguing idea. (biscuits in the microwave?!?!?!)

i will definitely be giving these another go tomorrow morning, with some tiny ghiradelli chocolate chips. mmm, chocolate chip pancakes…

Awesome, thanks for those tips, Liz! When I made them I used small jars, which accounts for how little time I needed to microwave them. They do tend to rise quite a bit, so under-filling is definitely preferred. With chocolate chips sounds heavenly- please report how it tastes after you’ve tried it! :)

Hi Cara- I’m not entirely sure these are campfire friendly! The microwave does a great job of heating the batter evenly and letting it puff up to get that pancake texture. If you’re working with a campfire, you might be better off using a pan and making the cakes that way. Hope this helped, and let me know if you do try it!

Wow; just made a big batch of these to feed a bunch of hungry and hungover friends and they were awesome! Definitely the perfect way to quickly and easily make an impressive breakfast for a crowd in a hurry– not to mention a great way to play hostess without being chained to the kitchen :) thanks!

ok. stupid question really. does the batter really fully cook? also about the jars- i reuse all the jars my food comes in. like jelly, salsa, nut butters whatever. i put them in the dishwasher (i know i should hand wash-i am not lazy,but tired alot) do you think that this, along with microwaving is okay for these glass jars? after so many rounds in the dishwasher the jars get this mark on the bottom. looks like eyelashes. i just didn’t know if i was supposed to be reusing them. again, i know it would be better to just hand wash. sorry for the weirdness-that’s just me! thanks.

If it’s a glass jar, I wouldn’t worry in the slightest. I use mine as drinking glasses and run them through the dishwasher and I’ve never had a problem. They hold up in the microwave fine, too. If you microwave properly it should be 99% cooked, and if not then you can always use 50% power and cook it an extra minute or two. I used small jars, so I really had no problem. Thanks for stopping by!

I would think, yeah! I haven’t personally tested that method, but I’d guess-timate that 350 degrees for about 9 minutes would yield a not-burned-but-not-undercooked jar of pancake. Let me know if you do attempt it!

I just made these using what I had in the pantry (no blueberries, dairy, and lavender sugar instead of regular sugar) and they are absolutely delicious. It may be for breakfast, but it doubles perfectly for a dessert! :) Thanks for the great recipe!

i always wake up super hungry too. granted, pancakes are relatively fast to mix together, but cooking them always takes too long in the morning! i usually eat them one right after another as i cook them because i don’t feel like waiting. problem solved.

I made this for breakfast and it is absolutely delicious and seriously easy to pull together in the morning! I tossed a handful of frozen blueberries in the bottom of the jar and the pancake turned out great. Added bonus: no need to defrost the berries! A small salsa jar did the job for 1/4 of the recipe, with room to spare for butter and syrup. Thank you – this is too yummy!

Anyone find that the fresh blueberries turned bitter? Ours did. Couldn’t eat them. Will try again with chocolate chips, but just wanted to see if anyone has a suggestion as to how to make it work with blueberries. Thanks!

I made this for my kids this morning and they were so good! I did cheat and used 3/4 C pancake mix (Jiffy-our favorite) with 1/2C oat bran (makes me feel like they are a little healthier). My jars were large so even though I didn’t fill them half way, they each took about 2 minutes in the microwave (still so quick!). Next time I will follow the exact recipe, but this worked in a pinch😊. Thank you for this super fast, yummy breakfast idea!!

Made this for breakfast today and it was perfect! I used a bit of a larger jar so it didn’t puff as much but it was still amazing. I made an individual jar using
1/4c flour
1.5 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 TB butter
3 TB milk
Blueberries

Wow! This was perfection! You just took cooking in a jar to a new level :D I loved it an i will definitely make this again! This was the first jar-recipe that I made that I didn’t have to throw away, and that I enjoyed to the last bite. Thank you :D
I only used 1/2 a cup of (whole wheat) flower and made the other ingredients match the amount, and it was perfect!

This is AWESOME! Do you think there is any reason why this recipe could not sit in a mason jar overnight? I have a tendency to roll out of bed with little time to spare in the morning, so I like to pack/prep my meals the night before. If I mixed all the ingredients as suggested, filled the jar, and left it overnight before sticking it in the microwave, do you think it would turn out ok?

Welcome to my internet rabbit hole. Down here you'll find recipes and photographs of how I spend my time, along with ruminations on life as a young male baker in a world usually catered to 40-somethings. Happy nomming!